Plane Makes Unscheduled Stop for Violent Passenger

An El Al plane en route to Munich made an emergency landing to remove a violent passenger.

Yosef Berger, 05/06/14 09:15

El Al Airlines

Israel news photo: Flash 90

An El Al plane en route to Munich made an emergency landing in Sofia, Bulgaria Thursday morning. The emergency landing was necessitated when a passenger started acting violently on the plane, El Al said.

According to the airline, the passenger attacked one of the plane's staff. A witness on the plane told Israeli web sites that the passenger suddenly got out of his seat and ran down the aisle, banged on the lavatory door and began shouting “there are terrorists here.” Staff tried to restrain him but he began lashing out at them. Eventually, the passenger was subdued by security staff.

The plane got permission to land in Sofia, where the passenger was removed from the plane. He is in the custody of local security officials and is to be sent back to Israel with security personnel. After about an hour the plane continued on its way to Munich.